General surgical practice patterns in Nova Scotia: the role of the "generalist" general surgeon.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the role of traditional "generalist" general surgeons in Nova Scotia.

DESIGN

An anonymous mail survey.

SETTING

The Province of Nova Scotia.

PARTICIPANTS

Sixty-two active general surgeons listed on the Nova Scotia Provincial Medical Board Registry.

INTERVENTIONS

A questionnaire to compare the practice patterns of community surgeons, regional surgeons and tertiary care surgeons.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The availability of non-general-surgery subspecialty colleagues in the hospital setting, the extent of non-general-surgery subspecialty practices of the participating surgeons, the types of procedures they commonly perform and the adequacy of their general surgery training to meet their present practice requirements.

RESULTS

The questionnaire response rate was 79%. Community surgeons had few non-general-surgery subspecialty colleagues, and the majority maintained broad "generalist" general surgical practices. Regional surgeons had more non-general-surgery subspecialty colleagues, but many still had surgical practices that included the non-general-surgery subspecialties. Tertiary surgeons had adequate non-general-surgery subspecialty colleagues and maintained narrow general surgery practices.

CONCLUSIONS

In Nova Scotia, "generalist" general surgeons presently provide non-general-surgery subspecialty services in both regional and community hospital settings.